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Minnesota was about to be down a senator in 1976 when Democratic Sen. Walter Mondale was elected as Jimmy Carter's vice president. 


So two men devised a plan that would shake up three of the state's most powerful offices.


Mondale would give up his Senate seat. It would then be up to the governor, Wendell Anderson, to appoint a replacement. 


But Anderson didn't choose anyone — he and Lt. Gov. Rudy Perpich made a different arrangement. 


Anderson would step down from the governor's office, leaving Perpich in charge. Perpich would then make Anderson the U.S. senator. Mondale would become vice president and Perpich the governor. 


That left Perpich and Anderson with the incumbent advantage in the 1978 election, in which both the governor's office and Mondale's old Senate seat were on the ballot. 


It didn't work out so well for the DFLers. 


Minnesota voters handed both men losses, and Republicans Al Quie and Rudy Boschwitz won the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, respectively. Quie won by more than 100,000 votes and Boschwitz defeated Anderson in a landslide — taking over 56 percent of the vote.


Four decades later, the governor's office showed it had some institutional memory. Gov. Mark Dayton, whose seat will be open in 2018, was recently asked about speculation he'd resign before his term is up. That would leave Lt. Gov. Tina Smith with the incumbent's upper hand, if she opts to run.

Wendell Anderson, state's 33rd governor, dead at 83

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Dayton knew better than to risk a repetition of history. Citing the events of the late '70s, he said he'll finish his term, leaving the ever-growing slate of candidates to fight it out among themselves.

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When Gov. Mark Dayton was asked about speculation that he might resign before his term ends, he referred to this story from 40 years ago.

From the archives: Wendell Anderson resigns as governor

To mark Minnesota Public Radio's 50th anniversary, we are digging into our audio archives. Today we are going to take you back to 1976 when Walter Mondale left his seat in the U.S. Senate to become Jimmy Carter's Vice President. Gov. Wendy Anderson resigned which made Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich the new governor. And then as they had previously arranged, Perpich appointed Anderson to fill Mondale's Senate seat.

A cautionary tale of a governor switcheroo

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